Local election officials across the United States are increasingly wary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), fearing that the agency, under the leadership of Secretary Markwayne Mullin, may become a threat to election integrity rather than a protector. The concerns stem from Mullin's history of promoting election denial claims, including his advocacy for debunked conspiracy theories about Venezuelan interference in the 2020 election.
Mullin, a former U.S. senator from Oklahoma who now heads DHS, has amplified false claims of fraud, having voted against certifying the 2020 Electoral College results after the January 6 Capitol riot.
These actions have eroded trust among local election officials, many of whom now avoid sharing voter data or security information with the federal government.
Matt Crane, a former Republican county clerk who leads a professional organization for Colorado election officials, stated, "I'm actively discouraging it. I don't trust how the administration is using that data." He noted that DHS's current election point person, Heather Honey, has a record of spreading election misinformation, adding, "They've brought the fox into the henhouse." The Trump administration has taken unprecedented steps, such as suing states to obtain private voter registration data and attempting to access voting machines, raising alarms about potential misuse of information.
White House border czar Tom Homan has suggested that immigration enforcement could be deployed at polling places, a move that would violate federal law. While Mullin has stated that DHS agents would only be present at polling locations in response to specific threats, local officials remain skeptical.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a DHS component created by Trump, has seen most of its election security staff pushed out or resign, and it has lacked a Senate-confirmed leader for the entirety of Trump's second term. Paul Lux, a Republican election supervisor in Okaloosa County, Florida, described communication with CISA as "radio silence," noting that no Florida counties have recently received services from the agency.
Funding for the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), a key cybersecurity partnership for local election officials, was eliminated in 2025 as part of DOGE cuts. The organization now relies on a membership model, but membership has dropped to less than 20% of previous levels.
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Democratic secretary of state, remarked, "The actions of defunding and dismantling those protections speak for themselves." The EI-ISAC plans to establish a virtual situation room for the midterms without DHS involvement, highlighting the fractured relationship. Lux compared the federal government to "that uncle that we keep at arm's length at Thanksgiving," indicating that rebuilding trust will require significant effort from DHS.